Powers/Abilities/Functions: The Key is composed of an
unknown mineral, and through it tremendous energies may be manipulated
psionically. Its full range of power is unrevealed, but it can be used to fire
powerful energy bolts, to teleport people and/or objects across space or
dimensional barriers, and to serve as an energy source for machinery. The Key
has been used to create and re-structure the Life Model Decoy members of Zodiac.
It can also enhance the vitality of others, as it rejuvenated Jake Fury back
into peak health when he would otherwise have been over 70 years old.

The Key is apparently sentient and can
speak to others. It can resist commands, but it will usually acquiesce if given
direct and/or repeated orders. Acting on its own volition, the Zodiac Key has
reconstructed Jake Fury's own body after it has been fatally injured. When such
reconstruction was no longer possible, the Key created Fury's android body.

The Key draws power from an
extradimensional source, possibly the In-Betweener, and its power is somehow
dependent on intense conflict between the forces of Order and Chaos. It is the
struggle itself that affects the Key, and it functions best when neither side is
able to entirely or permanently overcome the other.

The Zodiac Key also has the ability to create a stasis field, animate machines and transform his wielder into sentient water by remote control (Scorpio performed this feat by controlling the Key from a distance).

History:
(Avengers III#60 (fb) - BTS) - The Ankh dimension was created by the In-Betweener
as a "sanction" (sanctum?); a place for reflection, but it grew a life all its
own.

(Daredevil I#73 (fb) - BTS) - Many, many cycles ago in the
Dimension of Ankh, what would become known as the Zodiac Key was fashioned from
the carven stone of the earth and the spilled blood of a lamb, and thus, by its
origins, it was bound into the lifeblood of the All-Creator. For many years, the
Brotherhood held sole possession of the Key, and through its use they struck the
eternal balance between Order and Chaos. The Key served as the mystic valve
through which the power of Ankh was siphoned to its bearer.

(Daredevil I#73 (fb) - BTS) - In the fourth generation of the
Century of the Leopard, something happened to the Key, causing it to weaken.

(Daredevil I#73) - The Lawholder discovered that as the world
of the Brotherhood had grown calm and still, there was no longer a struggle
between Order and Chaos. Without the energies they obtained through the Key, the
Brotherhood's power-flames began to grow dim, signaling their dying might. The
Lawholder decided that the Key must be sent from their world to Earth, which was
still struggling under the eternal battle.

(Fury#1 (fb) - BTS) - Jake Fury somehow learned of and sought
the Zodiac Key, but he lacked sufficient hate to be worthy of it.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe#17: Jake Fury
(fb) - BTS / West Coast Avengers II#27 (fb) - BTS / Fury#1 (fb) - BTS)
- After Jake Fury had been discovered as a HYDRA agent by his brother, Nick,
narrowly escaping death at his hands, Jake at last had the hatred he needed. The
Key then sought out Jake Fury, and he became the first man on Earth to hold it.
In addition to his hatred, Fury attracted the Key due to his great potential for
doing evil. The Key became Jake's personal weapon, and he adopted the identity
of Scorpio.

(Nick
Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. I#1) - As Scorpio, Jake wielded the Zodiac Key while
ambushing a S.H.I.E.L.D. base in Las Vegas. When Nick arrived and confronted
him, Jake used the Key to summon "solar force beyond belief," which
Nick narrowly
escaped. Scorpio then stunned Fury with a force blast, but Nick recovered and
tackled Jake. Their clash led into the streets of Las Vegas, and Scorpio
attempted to flee aboard an aircraft, but it was struck by a wild bullet fired
by gangster Mitch Hackett, seemingly killing Scorpio.

(Defenders I#49 (fb), West Coast Avengers II#26 (fb)) - The
Zodiac Key recreated Jake, hale and hearty on the corner of the street where he
had just died, but planted false memories of Scorpio being another person to
help him cope with the trauma. Finding the Zodiac Key where he had just "died,"
Jake took it to become Scorpio (once more).

(Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. I#5) - Scorpio confronted Nick again as he
was in his S.H.I.E.L.D. flying car. Nick attempted to ram Scorpio with the
vehicle, but Scorpio used the Key to create a force field that it crashed into.
Later, a half-dozen S.H.I.E.L.D. agents shot Scorpio as he jumped from a window
into the nearby harbor. Although the agents swore they had hit him, no body was
recovered.

(Avengers I#72 (fb) - BTS) - The Zodiac Key was claimed by Nick Fury, who
impersonated Jake/Scorpio in order to infiltrate the Zodiac Cartel.

(Avengers I#72 (fb)) - Rick Jones sought out Nick Fury and found him
disguised as Scorpio; Fury blasted Rick with the Zodiac Key to protect his
secret agenda. Rick recovered and swapped places with Captain Mar-Vell, who
attacked the false Scorpio, only to be felled by another blast from the Key.

(Avengers I#72) - The false Scorpio then used the Key to stun and capture the
Avengers (Captain America, Goliath (Clint Barton), Vision, Wasp, Yellowjacket)
and Rick Jones, who had gone to them for assistance. The rest of the Zodiac
Cartel then arrived, and Aries (Marcus Lassiter), who led the Zodiac at the
time, demanded the Key. Scorpio surrendered the Key, but the Avengers then broke
free. Aries used the Key to stun them, but Rick Jones jumped on him, stopping
the assault. Aries then used the Key to blast a hole in the wall, enabling
himself and the other ten Zodiacs to escape.

(Avengers I#80 + 81 - BTS, 82) - Aries used the Zodiac Key in his effort to
hold Manhattan hostage. When Daredevil and the Black Panther confronted him,
Aries used the Key to set the room on fire. Aries held the Key when Thor blew up
his ship.

(Iron Man I#35) - Fury brought Iron Man to the Key, intending
for him to bring it to Stark to study. As soon as Fury touched the Key, it took
control of his mind, forcing him to fire a series of energy blasts. Iron Man
coated the Key in a repulsor field, separating it from Fury, and then brought it
to Stark Industries, where he and Kevin O'Brian studied it. They were joined by
Fury, but then ambushed by Capricorn--who had entered his period of leading the
Zodiac Cartel, alongside Aquarius, Sagittarius, and a Zodiac agent or two. While
the heroes fought the Zodiacs, the Key spoke to O'Brian, mesmerizing him and
forcing him to grab the Key as the force field faded and then blast Iron Man and
Fury. The two were imprisoned alongside Daredevil, Madame Masque, and O'Brian,
as well, but then the Key commanded Capricorn to release Fury and give him the
Key. It once again entranced Fury, forcing him to comply.

(Iron Man I#35, Daredevil I#73) - The entranced Nick Fury
grabbed the Key, using it to transport himself, Daredevil, Iron Man (Tony
Stark), Madame Masque (Whitney Frost), Kevin O'Brian, Spymaster, and the Zodiac
Cartel's Aquarius, Capricorn, and Sagittarius to the Dimension of Ankh. There
the Lawholder reclaimed the Key, and explained its origins and purpose. When
Kevin O'Brian questioned the Brotherhood's right to deal in the lifeblood of
men, the Lawholder banished him back to Earth.
The Lawholder then instructed the visitors that they must battle in order to
provide the energy for the Key to regain its former majesty; there would be a
reward for the winners: a place among the most high of the Brotherhood. When
Daredevil refused to be a pawn in their struggle, the Lawholder used the Key to
influence them to fight. While Spymaster and the Zodiacs, and even Iron Man,
Fury, and Madame Masque, all jumped readily into battle, Daredevil continued to
resist. When Capricorn attacked Daredevil, he continued to resist, striving only
for defensive actions.
Suddenly "some sort of burning flakes" began drifting through the air; while
the Lawholder was pleased as the Key began to throb with new life, another
member of the Brotherhood spoke out, proclaiming, "Nay! By your interference,
you have destroyed the balance we so delicately seek to weave! There must be an
end! The red-masked one's heart is not in this conflict! There can be no just
settling of the scales." He instructed the Lawholder to give him the Key,
and he used it to send the humans back to Earth, where their continued conflict
would restore the Key. The Brotherhood retained the Key.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe#20: Zodiac -
BTS / Defenders I#49 (fb)) - The Zodiac Key returned to Earth, falling from the
sky and striking the head of a homeless derelict, who had no idea of its true
value.

(Defenders I#49 (fb)) - While at a bar, Jake overheard a
patron mention how he had bought an object for his pawn shop which matched the
Zodiac Key in description. Jake reclaimed the Key from the shop "for a song."

(Defenders I#49 (fb) - BTS) - Scorpio fell into a period of
ennui, and retreated from the world to create the Theater of Genetics, hoping to
have his own Zodiac to be his friends, and meant for his LMD of Virgo to be his
lover. He also used the Nick Fury LMD he had stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D. as his
companion as he grew increasingly distraught by the world outside.

(Defenders I#46) - Wielding the Key, Scorpio confronted Kyle
Richmond at his Riding Academy, but ended up fighting the Defenders (Hellcat,
Hulk, Nighthawk, Valkyrie (Brunnhilde/Barbara Norriss)). Hellcat tore the Key
from his hand, but Scorpio activated it from afar, causing it to transform into
water, allowing him to reclaim the Key and teleport away.

(Defenders I#48) - Scorpio used the Key against Nighthawk,
teleporting him away.

(Defenders I#49) - The Defenders led the Hulk to crash into
Scorpio's base, where he was confronted by Scorpio, holding the Key, and his
newly activated Zodiac.

(Defenders I#50) - Scorpio held the key as he led the Zodiac
LMDs to attack the Hulk and the other Defenders, but a string of disappointments
led Scorpio to kill himself with a bullet to the head.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe#20: Zodiac -
BTS / West Coast Avengers II#26 (fb)) - The Zodiac Key created an LMD version of
Jake, and transferred his consciousness (or created a near-exact replica of it)
to inhabit the body. This also caused Scorpio to recall that he was the original
Scorpio, having recognized the Key's false memories. Resuming his identity as
Scorpio, Jake set the LMDs captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. free, and used the Zodiac
Key to create new versions of those which had been destroyed.

(West Coast Avengers II#26) - At a meeting of the Zodiac
Cartel in Dallas, Texas, Scorpio, who had infiltrated the Cartel while posing as
his own successor, Jacques LaPoint, unmasked himself before the cartel as Jake
Fury. He then let in his LMD Zodiac, who swiftly murdered the entire cartel,
except for Taurus. Holding the Key, Scorpio pursued Taurus out of the meeting
room and into a mall, but Taurus was able to evade him.

Later, Scorpio held the Key while he led
the LMDs to Wichita to rob businessmen at a cattle auction, where they were
opposed by the West Coast Avengers (Hawkeye, Iron Man, Mockingbird, Tigra,
Wonder Man) and Moon Knight. The Key proved powerful enough to drive off Wonder
Man. During the fight, Sagittarius was slain by Hawkeye, and some of the others
began to panic. Scorpio used the Key to create a diversion with a cattle
stampede, then teleported his team back to their base. He was furious with them
for fleeing, and had to contend with Leo jockeying for the position of leader.
Scorpio sent the LMDs away while he used the Key to tap into the power of
Sagittarius. He communed with the Key, who told him that he would live as long
as the Key existed. Scorpio then used it to create an LMD of Hawkeye to serve as
his new Sagittarius.

(West Coast Avengers II#27) - Holding the Key, Scorpio, aided
by the Zodiacs, captured Hawkeye and replaced him with his Sagittarius
doppelganger. Later, after learning that Cornelius van Lunt, the Taurus of the
Zodiac Cartel, was aiding the Avengers against them, the LMD Zodiacs were split
in their support of Scorpio, who had allowed van Lunt to escape. Scorpio
threatened to use the Key to destroy Leo or any others who continued to oppose
him. The Key then spoke to the irate Scorpio, consoling him.

(West Coast Avengers II#27 - BTS) - The Key guided Scorpio to
create a new Leo LMD to replace the rebellious one. This Leo, in the form of
Tigra, ambushed and replaced the original, who then infiltrated the West Coast
Avengers.
Scorpio used the Key to send Hawkeye and Tigra to the Ankh
dimension.

(West Coast Avengers#28) - Holding the Key, Scorpio led the
LMDs in robbing the Denver Mint, where they were interrupted by the Avengers.
Scorpio managed to teleport them to Death Valley along with their loot, but the
Key had begun to be slow to respond. Just as Leo made another bid to claim
leadership, the Avengers caught up to them once more, and Iron Man concealed the
Zodiac Key within an energy field to even out the odds. After the Tigra Leo took
Iron Man out of commission, the Key was set free, and Scorpio revealed to the
masculine Leo that he was no longer needed. Leo attacked Scorpio and tore him
apart, but the Key brought Scorpio and the other damaged LMDs back together.
Deciding to change the terrain, Scorpio asked the Key to bring them to the Ankh
Dimension. The Key did not want to, but complied, and Scorpio was deactivated
along with the other LMDs as soon as they arrived in the Ankh Dimension, unable
to function there without the Earthly Zodiac constellations which powered them.
The Key then traveled to the Brotherhood's side, at which
point the Brotherhood called the conflict to a halt, as the power of the Key
would have made the struggle too one-sided. The Brotherhood then sent the
Avengers back to Earth, intending to someday send the Key back to Earth to
create new conflicts for them.

(Iron Fist III#3 (fb) - BTS) - Sss'lethcott the H'ylthri conspired to obtain the Key to use its solar power to provide the photosynthesis
web his people needed to restore them to life. Sss'lethcott revived the nearly
dead Miranda Rand'Kai and Conal, using a serum which maintained their existence
and the promise of restoring them to full life to blackmail them into obtaining
the Key for him.

(Iron Fist III#1) - As Death Sting, Miranda directed a
Sidewinder to try to steal the "Scorpio Key" from S.H.I.E.L.D., but he was slain
by its protection grid.

(Iron Fist III#2) - Conal, posing as Sharyd, duped Iron Fist
into believing he was was holding his sister Miranda hostage, coercing Iron Fist
into stealing the Key. Iron Fist successfully obtained the Key and gave it to
Sharyd, who then tried to kill Iron Fist. When Iron Fist began to gain the
advantage, he pretended to threaten Miranda's life. Iron Fist defeated Sharyd,
but Miranda duped Iron Fist into giving her the Key, and she framed Joy Meachum
as Death Sting.

(Iron Fist III#3) - Joy convinced Iron Fist that she was not
Death Sting, and Iron Fist joined S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Malik Shippinsky--assigned
to learn who would try to steal the Key--in tracking down the real Death Sting
and Conal as they met with Sss'lethcott. Death Sting used the Key against Malik
and Iron Fist, but ultimately when Sss'lethcott attempted to kill Iron Fist, she
used the Key to destroy Sss'lethcott instead. She then turned the Key on the
H'ylthri pods, seemingly perishing in the explosion, but actually being exposed
to enough of the chemicals from the pods to restore her fully to life. Malik
claimed the Key for S.H.I.E.L.D..

(Avengers III#59 (fb) - BTS) - The Zodiac Key decayed into
dust.

Comments: Created by Jim Steranko and Joe Sinnott.

A footnote in Defenders I#49 incorrectly
identifies the Zodiac Key from Iron Man I#35-36 and Daredevil I#73 as a
different Key.

According to Iron Fist III#2,
the Zodiac Key from the Ankh dimension was the one used by Mikel Fury, and IF
III#2 is supposed to be its appearance following Mikel's banishment from
S.H.I.E.L.D. in Punisher III#7. I'll be covering Mikel Fury in the near future,
and I'll have to sort out this mess at that point.

Thanks to Robert Wicks for pointing out that the historical Illuminati once held the Zodiac Key. If Scorpio is referring to the historical Illuminati, then that would place the Zodiac Key's appearance on Earth before or between 1776-1785. Thanks to Gammatotem for adding a bit to the power section.

The Zodiac Key has an entry in the All-New OHotMU Upate#3.

Profile by Snood (with help from Prime
Eternal and Omar Karindu).

Clarifications:
The Zodiac Key should be distinguished from:

ZODIAC KEY - duplicate created by Mephisto for the
One-Man Zodiac--Ghost Rider II#7

SCORPIO KEY -
also known as the COSMIC KEY, a power item used by Scorpio (Mikel Fury)--Wolverine/Nick Fury: Scorpio Connection

Cosmic
Key - magic item from Maltesia, used by Pro-Rata in attempt to activate the
Cosmic Calculator, later evolved the Cockroach, returned to Maltesia by Hemlock
Shoals
--Howard the Duck I#1

Any of the Keys to the Enigma Force--Micronauts I#30

KEY ( ) - Australian mutant, brother of Wall, formerly worked in
Randall shire’s traveling circus, later forced to serve him after he was possessed by one of the
Undying, secretly opposed him although couldn’t disobey direct orders, assisted
Cable in defeating undying, reprogrammed Azazel to transfer their consciousnesses in cockroaches.
possessed affinity for computers, access to virtually all information sources, wm, blond
--Cable II#79